For Gao Hai, the two-day, one-night trip to the hot spring hotel was a thoroughly enjoyable experience.
The passion that Chika had been stoking in him for several days was now fiercely released. He had delved even deeper into the propositions of life with both Chika and Maki. It could be said that everything was in its most beautiful and cheerful phase, to the point that Gao Hai could even describe it with the word 'happiness.'
So much so that when he returned home, to his somewhat cold and empty little house, Gao Hai felt a bit unaccustomed to it, finding it rather dull.
I really want to keep sticking together with Maki and Chika...
Gao Hai, sitting on the sofa, couldn't help but sigh in a low voice. Then, with great reluctance, he sat up and picked up a printed map from the table.
Naturally, this map was of [Fujihana Middle School], or more accurately, a rough layout of Fujihana Middle School.
It was said that the interior of the buildings here would change every time the game started, appearing in a disordered state that didn't match the exterior at all. Therefore, the only permanently valid map was just this rough distribution chart.
Through this map, Gao Hai could confirm the basic features of various areas like the Teaching Building, dormitory building, Swimming Pool, and Playground. For instance, the Teaching Building had three entrances and exits, one of which connected to the dormitory building and was obscured by a green belt. The Playground was mainly divided into a basketball court and a football field, with the main entrance of the dormitory building connecting to the basketball court. The Swimming Pool was an isolated building on one side of the football field, and there was a walking path that circled the entire campus, and so on.
Although the possibility of Gao Hai entering the pseudo Red Moon-level, super-difficult instance [Campus Horror Stories] was currently not high, and even if he did, he wouldn't necessarily start in the [Fujihana Middle School] area, since he had already carefully collected and studied so much related intelligence, he figured he might as well finish reading the rest of the relevant information.
"If I get pulled into the instance precisely because I've read so much of this intelligence, that would really suck."
Gao Hai couldn't help but quip as he looked at the map in his hands.
Ding-dong—
The doorbell rang.
Who could be looking for me at this hour?
Gao Hai wondered with some confusion. He stood up, quickly slipped over to the window to peek outside, and only after seeing it was Miko Yotsuya did he go to the door to answer the intercom, then opened it to let her in.
It wasn't entirely unexpected for Gao Hai that this girl would come looking for him.
However, he had thought she would wait a while longer before seeking him out.
After all, these anomalous things that appeared every night were quite different from the monsters in the original work of Mieruko-chan. These things were mindless and unaware; they wouldn't do anything to an observer even if seen. Therefore, the pressure Miko had to bear was far less than in the original story. She could completely rely on her own willpower to adapt to the existence of these things.
But now she had come looking for him in such a hurry. In other words, had some change occurred that forced her to start seeking help?
Gao Hai, not knowing the specific details, didn't make any wild guesses. He just led Miko to the living room to sit down, waiting for her to explain things herself.
However, he felt that something was a little strange.
It was a strange feeling, incredibly dissonant and hard to describe with words.
It was as if it wasn't just Miko Yotsuya who had walked through his door, but that something else had followed her in as well.
This feeling was really uncomfortable, but it wasn't something to be overly concerned about...
Why shouldn't I be overly concerned about something like this?
"Yotsuya-san, you're saying that some of your classmates are performing some kind of occult ritual?"
In the living room, Gao Hai looked at the girl sitting opposite him, who appeared mentally exhausted, and asked slowly.
"Yes, I don't know how to say it... I just feel like everyone around me has had their minds controlled by something. They've become unable to think about the consequences of their actions, and they don't care about the potential dangers behind things. They just throw themselves into it with great interest. This makes me feel very scared, terrified. My class has lost a lot of people, but no one has noticed. It's as if those people have vanished from everyone's memory, and I can't remember their names either..."
Miko had clearly been under immense psychological pressure recently. Now that she finally had a chance to confide in Gao Hai, she poured out everything almost all at once.
This feeling was truly strange.
She had barely met this man a few times, and this was only the second time they had actually talked. But she seemed to instinctively trust him, feeling that this person was with her in [the same world], and thus she could speak without restraint about things she never dared to mention.
Perhaps, this was what was called a "sense of security."
Just like now, after hearing her talk about these incredibly bizarre events, this man named Gao Hai would absolutely not say things like "You're too stressed" or "These are just coincidences, no need to worry" like other people would. Instead, he would listen seriously to what she said, think about it, analyze it, and like her, treat it as a precursor to some strange event and ponder it.
"That does sound quite bad. By the way, you know the name of that ritual, right? What is it called?"
Gao Hai's expression had already turned grave. From Miko's words, he could infer one of two things: either a Player was using an Obsession Item to carry out some action in that school, or the power of an instance had manifested in the real world. The possibility implied by the latter made the unease in his heart grow more and more severe.
Could such a possibility really exist?
He couldn't help but look down at the black Watch he couldn't take off.
I realized there was a problem and tried to take action to minimize the potential dangers I might encounter.
So this Watch, complying with my actions, threw the problem right in my face after I finished gathering all the clues I could?
Are you fucking kidding me?!
"Yes, I remember. The name of the ritual is [Alice's Game]."
Then, every expression on Gao Hai's face froze after Miko Yotsuya's next sentence.
It really is like that.
Gao Hai couldn't help but let out a soft sigh at that moment.
"Mr. Gao, do you... know what's going on?"
Miko was still watching Gao Hai cautiously, asking him in a small voice.
"Yes, I know. I do know."
Gao Hai nodded gravely in response, a trace of vigilance gradually rising in his heart.
The real-world manifestation of an instance's power has anomalous properties. Miko Yotsuya, as someone affected by this power, shouldn't remember the abnormal state of the school.
Yet not only was she aware of the existence of the disappeared students, but she also discovered the anomaly of having forgotten their names and tried to seek external help. This process had definitely exceeded the three-to-four-hour memory-loss limit that Kaguya had tested. This meant that the Miko Yotsuya of this world possessed a perceptive ability strong enough to break through the cognitive shielding of anomalous power. For her to come to his house today of all days, the day he returned, and tell him about these anomalous matters, while he himself had just felt that something was slightly off...
A girl wearing the same sailor uniform as Miko, but who was inexplicably dirty, passed by the corridor outside the living room, visible in the corner of Gao Hai's eye.
The power of the Blessing vibrated intensely at this moment.
The hairs all over his body stood on end. Every inch of his skin, every single nerve, trembled at this moment from the threat of death.
Something had indeed come in.
After he opened the door and let Miko Yotsuya in, something had followed behind her, entering his house along with the girl.
Gao Hai stood up, looking at the half-open living room door and the corridor beyond it.
At this moment, apart from the area illuminated by the living room light, the rest of the corridor in Gao Hai's line of sight had become pitch-black, so dark that he couldn't see his hand in front of his face.
Was the corridor always this dark?
And that figure that just appeared suddenly—that could already be considered an anomaly blatantly announcing its own existence, couldn't it?
"Mr. Gao?"
Miko noticed the abrupt change in Gao Hai's expression and realized something bad might be happening. She followed his gaze and turned to look at the living room door, then noticed the gloomy darkness in the corridor.
It was just like the restroom she had seen in her dream during the day.
Miko's body jolted, the look of terror on her face almost impossible to suppress.
"Come here. Don't go near there."
Only after repeatedly confirming Miko's condition with the power of his Blessing did Gao Hai speak, gesturing for her to come over.
The little girl, shivering, cautiously moved to Gao Hai's side, looking at the doorway in fear. Although she hadn't seen any abnormal phenomena appear from within yet, in Miko's eyes, that place was already the hiding spot of something terrifying.
Encountering an anomaly in his own home, and on the afternoon of the very day his vacation ended, was a troublesome situation that Gao Hai couldn't laugh about. However, an abnormality of this level wasn't enough to make him lose his composure. In fact, the current anomalous phenomenon was enough to make Gao Hai's spirit tighten, returning him to the serious state he maintained while in an instance game.
The first thing to confirm was whether communications were still functioning normally.
Gao Hai picked up his phone and sent a text to Maki, asking if she wanted to go out for dinner together tonight.
About two minutes later, she replied, saying she could come out for dinner and asking what Gao Hai wanted to eat, so she could find a restaurant and book a table in advance.
Everything seemed normal.
But Gao Hai had actually already initiated communication with Maki simultaneously through their mental link, asking about her situation.
{I just sent you a text. Did you get it?}
{Hmm? What text? I didn't get anything over here.}
Very good. Communications were down, and some anomalous thing was impersonating her to send and receive texts.
Having confirmed this, Gao Hai slowly let out a breath. He then looked down at the new texts "Maki" had sent him, deleted them without a glance, and immediately received a phone call from her. In the next moment, Gao Hai crushed his own phone, turning it into fragments and tossing it into the trash can.
Miko, who was beside him, also received a phone call at this time. The caller ID showed it was her mother.
"Don't answer it."
Gao Hai pressed down on the hand Miko was using to hold her phone and spoke to her seriously.
"From now on, until we can truly confirm that we are out of danger, don't answer any more calls, no matter who it is. Same for messages. Don't read them. Sometimes, it's precisely because we look at things we shouldn't that we end up in danger."
Admonishing her thus, Gao Hai helped Miko hang up the call, took the phone from her hand, and turned it off directly.
Miko didn't say a word. After seeing Gao Hai send a text and then unhesitatingly crush his phone, she already understood what he meant. She realized that whatever was calling or texting her now was probably no longer human.
"What... should we do?"
The girl, her body trembling slightly, could only look at Gao Hai in the end and ask in a small voice.
She didn't cry, didn't throw a fit, didn't collapse on the floor in fear. For a newcomer, these were already good qualities. Although, given the current situation, if this really was the so-called [Alice's Game], it wouldn't matter how excellent a newcomer was.
"Don't panic, don't be afraid. Listen to me. Can you do that?"
Gao Hai said, grabbing Miko's shoulders and pulling her slowly backward, away from the door.
Gao Hai had no way of knowing what rules of engagement an anomaly appearing in the real world would have.
The only thing he could be certain of was that its killing rule hadn't been triggered yet, otherwise that girl just now wouldn't have simply come out to put on a show.
I have to find a way to leave this house.
Gao Hai's gaze quickly shifted to the window on one side of the room.
A window fitted with security bars, but which Gao Hai was fully capable of breaking through, leading to the street outside.
He could see the street outside under the setting sun.
He could see pedestrians walking to and fro on the street.
He could see them standing in a row on the street, men and women in student uniforms, standing motionless with their backs to his window.
If he tried to get out this way, he would undoubtedly run into those "people" standing outside the window with their backs to him.
The thick malice and non-human feeling from them made Gao Hai unhesitatingly dismiss the idea.
{Hai-kun, what's the situation over there now?}
Maki's voice continued to ring in Gao Hai's mind.
{Very bad. There's a group of those things standing outside the window with their backs to me, and at least one has gotten inside. Did you get a call from me just now? I've already crushed my phone; it's impossible for me to call anyone.}
Gao Hai continued to communicate with Maki while cautiously observing his surroundings.
{You called, and many times. I didn't answer. I've already contacted Auntie and Fujiwara. They know your situation now and won't answer your calls either.}
As a reliable partner, Maki naturally wouldn't slip up on such matters. After Gao Hai's abrupt question about the text message, she had already realized there was a problem and quickly contacted Kaguya and Chika to explain the situation. Afterward, she neither read nor answered any of Gao Hai's calls or texts, trusting only the messages coming through the mental link.
{Good. Now you guys try to contact Koikawa-san and Aoyama Nanami. Tell them I've been attacked by an anomaly from [Fujihana Middle School] within the [Campus Horror Stories] instance. Those two might have some experience or a solution. Be extremely careful on your way. If you encounter students standing motionless with their backs to you, immediately use the power of the Blessing to check their status. If they're anomalies, get out of that area immediately.}
Gao Hai communicated rapidly with Maki through the mental link, and at that moment, the surrounding environment changed.
Click—
The television, which had been off, turned on by itself for some unknown reason.
Amidst the static, the TV screen showed live footage of a reporter conducting an interview at a school. At this very moment, the screen showed the reporter standing in a classroom, smiling at the screen. And behind this reporter, the pale-faced students, one by one, also opened their mouths, smiling happily at the screen.
And their smiles were turned slightly to the side, looking at Gao Hai and Miko, who were standing to the side of the television. It was a completely silent smile, directed right at the two of them.
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